Tag: Fear

We all strive to be happy, but still, it is extremely few who can really say that they are. But what are the obstacles? I think one of the most important is that we do not succeed in being true to ourselves in our life choices.

A happy person is a person who is fully integrated, i.e. living a life where all outer and inner circumstances are in harmony with each other. This is certainly not easy. It requires that after careful reflection you are aware of your values ​​and succeed in living them. But it also requires that you “clean up” your life so that the external factors – home, work, partner, friends – do not go against what is of fundamental importance to you. Continue reading “Live a better life by being true to yourself”

One of the genetically strongest fears we have is to be abandoned by the group. Humans are flock animals, and the safety of the group has been vital for our survival throughout evolution. If you challenged the prevailing norms in the early hunting tribe, you’d risk being expelled from the group, and this was often the same as a death sentence.

The brain has a “fear centre” in a part of the brain called the amygdala. This centre is not only activated in emergency situations, but whenever we face something we find uncomfortable. Activation of amygdala can give us a deep feeling of discomfort, which is so negative that we go very far to avoid it.

We are very much steered by the primitive reactions that are evoked in our reptile brain. One of the strongest of these instincts is fear. Fear is a survival function, and potentially dangerous situations affect us much more than positive signals that say everything is calm and that we can carry on with what we are doing.